The World Cup opening gala on the Red Square.

The World Cup opening gala on the Red Square in Moscow will star Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo, Yusif Eyvazov, Ildar Abdrazakov, Albina Shagimuratova, Aida Garifullina, Juan Diego Flórez, Denis Matsuev and Valery Gergiev.

The concert will be held on June 13. The broadcast of the gala will start at 9:35 p.m. local time on the Russian Channel 1  www.1tv.ru.

A Revelation.

by Francisco and David Salazar. 

As Cavaradossi, Yusif Eyvazov took over the run for an ailing Marcelo Alvarez and the results were marvelous. Eyvazov has a unique timbre that can sometimes sound rough and raw and for some, this may not be the ideal voice for the Italian rep. But regardless, this a tenor with a large instrument who is built for this repertoire. More importantly, he’s a very intelligent singer with a stable sense of rhythmic precision and nuanced phrasing.

Read the full review here: Metropolitan Opera 2017-18 Review – Tosca: Anna Netrebko Conquers Puccini’s Iconic Diva

Photo: Ken Howard

Yusif Eyvazov will replace Marcelo Alvarez in the role of Cavaradossi in the Sir David McVicar´s “Tosca” production at Metropolitan Opera on April 21, 26, 30 & May 4 with Anna Netrebko and Sonya Yoncheva sharing the role of  Floria Tosca, Željko Lučić and Michael Volle as the depraved police chief Scarpia.

” Yusif Eyvazov makes an excellent Macduff with his dark tone and intense way with words”

                                                                                                      – The Guardian

Sunday, March 25, Yusif makes his Royal Opera debut in Verdi´s “Macbeth” with Anna Netrebko starring as Lady Macbeth. Antonio Pappano, famous for his Verdi operas interpretation, conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus.

Eyvazov return to the theatre is planned as Don Alvaro in 2019 in the Verdi´s opera “La Forza del Destino”.

 

Season opening of Andrea Chénier at La Scala sold out.

Yusif Eyvazov sings the title role in Umberto Giordano’s opera, Andrea Chénier, this December at the Teatro alla Scala.
The production is commissioned in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the death of Victor de Sabata, which will be staged by Mario Martone with musical direction by Riccardo Chailly.
Mr. Eyvazov stars alongside a formidable cast, including his wife Anna Netrebko as Maddalena and Luca Salsi as Carlo.
Please note tickets are now completely sold-out for the season-opening performance.

Yusif is appearing for the first time as Maurizio in Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” at Mariinsky Theatre. In the title role of Adriana is Anna Netrebko, the conductor is Valery Gergiev.

The new production is a part of Mariinsky “Stars of the White Nights” Festival celebrating its 25th anniversary.

You can find the schedule of the festival for 2017 here: https://www.mariinsky-theatre.com/festival/

“Panorama”, the crossover label of Universal Music Group, will release “Romanza” featuring Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov Tenor on September 1st, 2017. Disk One of the double-CD set contains 18 songs for male and female soloist, as well as duets, composed by Igor Krutoy with Italian, French, Russian, and English lyrics. Disk Two contains some selections of Anna’s previous recording released by DG, including compositions of Puccini, Verdi, Kálmán, Lehár, Grieg, Dvořák, Rachmaninov, R. Strauss, Offenbach, Bellini, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky.

On March 9, 2017, by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan I. Aliyev Yusif Eyvazov was awarded the title of “Honored Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan”.

Deutsche Grammophon latest recording was internationally released on the 2nd of December, 2016. The joint album from Yusif Eyvazov, Anna Netrebko and the Munchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Marco Armiliato captured their live performance of “Manon Lescaut” at the Salzburg Festival 2016.

The “Opera Wire” magazine underlines the dramatic brilliance of Yusif´s interpretation:

On three different occasions, Eyvazov, pushes the highest to his vocal limits, the suspense truly palpable. One wonders whether he would have been allowed the same freedom in a recording and if these moments of dramatic brilliance showcase the beauty of capturing live performance.

 

On the Oct, 16 Yusif and Anna will appear for the first time together on the scene of Bolshoi Theater in opera “Manon Lescaut”, Puccini. The tickets for the performance were sold out within the first day of sales. Russian public already extended a warm welcome in Sochi: their appearance as the star guests at Sochi´s young singers contest was a great success. Afterwards they were hosted by Ivan Urgant in a very popular russian night talk-show “Evening Urgant”. On Oct, 1st Yusif and Anna are coming back to Russia for their concert at “Barvikha” Concert Hall in Moscow.

On Sep, 21 at The Greene Space Yusif and Anna gave an interview to WQXR’s Jeff Spurgeon in New York.

One of the most important debuts in 2016 awaits ahead – the role of Renato Des Grieux in the Puccini´s romantic tragedy „Manon Lescaut“ at the Salzburger Festspiele. The outstanding cast includes Anna Netrebko as Manon Lescaut and Armando Piña as Lescaut. Marco Armiliato conducts the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and the Konzertvereinigung Choir of the Vienna State Opera House.

The performance is sold out.

After a short break in June Yusif Eyvazov came back to work with 2 performances of  Verdi´s Aida. He sang for the first time in Summer Festival at antique amphitheater Arena di Verona on the 25th of June and on the 1st of July at the Opéra National de Paris, where Yusif had a triumphant debut in February this year.

On the 8th of July Yusif makes his debut at Berlin’s Staatsoper im Schiller Theater as Manrico in Verdi´s Trovatore paired with his wife Anna Netrebko.

The production of Philipp Stölzl under the baton of Daniel Barenboim will take place on the July 8, 11 and 14.

Yusif Eyvazov takes the stage with soprano Anna Netrebko, on May 27 as part of the City Day Concert at St. Petersburg’s Palace Square. This annual event draws thousands of spectators for a spectacular outdoor concert in addition to ancillary events around the Square and the city center.

Yusif will also sing the role of Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot on May 31 at St. Petersburg’s historic Mariinsky Theatre. This performance is featured as part of the XXIV Music Festival: Stars of the White Knights, which takes place every summer. The cast also includes Mlada Khudoley in the title role, Tatiana Pavlovskaya as Liù, and Yuri Vorobiev as Timur, with acclaimed conductor Valery Gergiev leading from the pit. Please note several seating areas are now sold out for this highly anticipated event.

Wie fühlen Sie sich an diesem Haus, in dem ja, ähnlich wie an der MET, schon die größten Tenöre ihre Vorgänger waren. Spüren Sie etwas von der Erwartungshaltung im Publikum? Sind Sie aufgeregt ?

Ja, sehr aufgeregt, nervös, um ehrlich zu sein. Es ist mein Debüt an der Staatsoper und ich habe großen Respekt vor dem Wiener Publikum – sie lieben Musik nicht nur, sie verstehen sie auch sehr gut. Ich werde mein Bestes geben !

Was war ihr erster Kontakt mit der Staatsoper ?

Ich war das erste Mal vor drei Jahren zu einem Vorsingen hier, es gefiel, aber da an dem Haus so weit im Voraus geplant wird, war es damals nicht möglich, mir bereits etwas Konkretes anzubieten. Nachdem ich dann den Calaf an der MET gesungen hatte, bot man mir einen Vertrag für Tosca für 2019 an. Darüber hab ich mich sehr gefreut. Und dann bekomme ich vor drei Wochen einen Anruf, dass Herr Botha aus gesundheitlichen Gründen leider seine Mitwirkung in „Turandot“ absagen musste …

 Ein glückliche Fügung für Sie sozusagen ….

Ja, aber ich muss sagen dass mich unter solchen Umständen natürlich nur bedingt freuen kann. So etwas kann jedem von uns passieren, Johan Botha ist ein wundervoller Künstler und ich wünsche ihm alles, alles Gute.

Read the entire feature via Online Merker.

Image: Wiener Staatsoper

“Eyvazov is an exciting tenor whose sound is metallic, stentorian and markedly Italianate. (He’s Azerbaijani, born in Algeria, trained in Italy.) . . . his career is beginning to take off. He made his L.A. Opera debut in October in one of the “I Pagliacci” performances. He will make his Vienna State Opera debut later this month in a new production of “Turandot,” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel . . .

Emotions were big. Voices were big. Husband and wife sang as if projecting to the last row of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in a house a sixth its size. You looked into singers’ gaping mouths that, in this intimate space, were like vocal black holes, as if drawing listeners’ very being inescapably into them . . . Netrebko and Eyvazov demonstrated considerable charm and real professionalism . . .

He went eagerly for high notes, striking most of all “E Lucevan le Stelle” from “Tosca,” and an amusingly and intentionally over-the-top “O Sole Mio.”

Each half ended with a big opera duet for lovers. In “O Soave Fanciulla,” Netrebko and Eyvazov sang the last bars off stage and they still sounded louder than many a singer does on stage. In a duet from “Andrea Chénier” they thrillingly raised the rafters.

This kind of evening has qualities of opera and athletics, but it is ultimately something else. The unalloyed dominance of the pure human voice trained to do exceptional things reaches us in a way that no other sound does. The reasons are psychological, physiological and sociological. At intermission, I heard responses to the singers as orgasmic and atomic . . . there is nothing else quite like it.”

Mark Swed – Los Angeles Times

Yusif Eyvazov makes his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper this month, as Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot. Mr. Eyvazov also made a prominent house debut at The Metropolitan Opera in the role earlier this season (November 2015). Performances take place April 28 and May 1, 5, 8 & 12 in a new production staged and designed by Marco Arturo Marelli. Gustavo Dudamel leads from the pit for these performances, which feature Lise Lindstrom in the title role and Anita Hartig as Liù.

Yusif Eyvazov and Anna Netrebko present two concerts this spring at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, as part of the venue’s Celebrity Opera series. Performances take place April 13 & 15, and also feature an orchestra conducted by Marco Boemi. Please note ticket availability is extremely limited for these special events, with a limited number of seats remaining for each date.

“. . . the revelation of the evening was Eyvazov. Scheduled to sing Calaf in Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera and the title role in Otello at the Mariinsky later this year, he is clearly destined for great things.

A heroic tenor in the Domingo mode, he has a strong stage presence and a huge voice – the ringing final note of his encore, Nessun Dorma, brought the house down.

The couple, only married since December, had a delightful rapport and showed off their dramatic range in their duets, from the passion of Otello and Desdemona to the charming flirtation between Mimi and Rudolfo in La Boheme, ending the evening with a rollicking Libiamo ne’ lieti calici from La Traviata.”

Natasha Rogai – South China Morning Post

Yusif Eyvazov and Anna Netrebko will tour throughout Asia this season, in concert featuring a programme of favored arias from the Italian operatic canon. Performances are conducted by Jader Bignamini, and take place at the Hong Kong Arts Festival with the Hong Kong Philharmonic (March 8 – sold out), with the Tokyo Philharmonic in Nagoya’s Aichi Arts Center (March 15 – limited availability) and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall (March 18 & 21 – sold out), and Taipei’s National Concert Hall (March 25 – sold out).

Yusif Eyvazov sings the role of Manrico in Verdi’s epic Il trovatore for Opéra national de Paris, on February 29 and March 3 at the Opéra Bastille. The cast features Hui He as Leonora, Ludovic Tézier (2/29) and Vitaliy Bilyy (3/3) as Il Conte di Luna, and Ekaterina Semenchuk (2/29) and Luciana D’Intino (3/3) alternate as Azucena. Acclaimed conductor Daniele Callegari takes the podium for these performances, featuring a new production directed by Alex Ollé. Mr. Eyvazov revisits the role again this summer, in a series of sold-out engagements with the Berlin State Opera.

On December 1, Yusif Eyvazov joins soprano Daria Masiero, conductor Marco Boemi, and I Musici di Parma for a special concert titled ‘Verdi vs. Puccini.’ This performance, taking place at the famed Teatro Regio di Parma, features music from the composers’ most loved works, including Otello, Un ballo in maschera, Tosca, and La bohéme. Tickets and more information are available at the following link.

Mr. Eyvazov then travels to Forlì to perform with soprano Anna Netrebko and acclaimed conductor and pianist Riccardo Muti on December 11, at the PalaCredito di Romagna. This event, a Recital Pucciniano, features a programme exclusively dedicated to the works of Puccini. Please note ticket availability is extremely limited for this engagement.

Making his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera and his North American role debut as Calàf, Yusif Eyvazov takes the stage in Puccini’s Turandot on November 7 & 12. He is joined by a spectacular cast in this gilded Franco Zeffirelli production, including Lise Lindstrom and Jennifer Wilson alternating in the title role, and Hibla Gerzmava as Liù, with Paolo Carignani leading the renowned Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Please note that ticket availability is limited for these two performances.

Yusif Eyvazov makes his highly anticipated debut in the U.S. on October 3, in the title role in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with L.A. Opera. Mr. Eyvazov has previously performed the role to great acclaim at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, under the baton Paolo Carignani. Ana Maria Martinez sings Nedda and George Gagnidze is Tonio in this Franco Zeffirelli-designed production commissioned by L.A. Opera, which will be directed by Stefano Trespidi. Plácido Domingo leads the L.A. Opera Orchestra and Chorus for this piece, which is presented as a double-bill with Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.

Yusif Eyvazov debuts at the Oper im Steinbruch St. Margarethen Festival this summer, as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca. This spectacular new production, created especially for the Festival, takes place beginning in July and runs through August. Tickets and more information are available at the following link.